What siding is best for my home?

When considering how siding works, contractors and expert siding services will tell you that siding is more than just for aesthetics. Siding offers a level of protection from weather elements like hard, harsh winds, hailstones, rain, and snow. It also provides a level of safety and security for your home.  Keep reading as we discuss in more detail the importance of siding services and how your home benefits.

Benefits of Good Siding

What can siding do for you? Consider these factors:

1. A Waterproof Envelope

Moisture is the enemy when it comes to your home’s stability and structure. It can begin deteriorating and causing expensive, excessive damage to the cement foundation, doors, masonry, and windows. Moisture left unaddressed will create mildew and mold, with mold eating away at the structure and causing health problems in addition to structural issues. 

Properly installed siding will protect your home with waterproofing. In addition to the foundation, gutters, and roof, which provide the first line of defense, getting siding services to keep your home’s interior dry is essential.  

2. Critter and Pest Control

Properly installed siding services will keep small critters, insects, and pests out of your home. Today, most siding is manufactured to be crack-resistant and warp-resistant, which makes them critter, insect, and pest-proof. When the siding is of low quality, it wicks moisture, and that attracts critters, insects, and pests, especially termites. 

3. Insulation

Siding services offer an added layer of insulation along with providing weather protection. Cold north winds and hot summer sun have a huge impact on your home’s energy efficiency. With quality siding, the energy efficiency is increased with an outer envelope, upgraded with rigid foam insulation and house wrap. 

4. The Curb Appeal

While we have this listed last, it is not the least important factor to any homeowner. Siding services do more than what we have listed here already. They also improve the curb appeal of your home, and with the various choices in siding materials available, finding the right one for your home’s architectural style is easy. 

For a home that is looking old and worn, having new siding installed will renew the home’s exterior and give it a boosted curb appeal. If you’re planning to place your home on the market, new siding will bring in more offers at a higher value. 

What are the different types of siding? 

There are several types of siding services available today, each having its own character, positives, and negatives. From this list of six, you can find one that has the appearance you want with the durability and longevity you need.

• Stucco: Maybe the most unique siding that is made from blending aggregates like cement and sand.  Applied in layers to be smooth or textured, it can complement many architectural styles. A fairly durable siding service that includes resistance from dings and knocks. It is cold and heat resistant as well and can be painted, allowing you to change your home’s exterior look. During hot summers, stucco siding services will reflect the UV rays, keeping your home cooler. 
• Wood: A popular choice for siding, and one of the oldest around. The appearance and style options are almost endless with this lightweight material. Easy installation with various sizes that allows you to create different patterns like board-and-batten, shiplap, or the traditional horizontal install.  It can be made to look contemporary or rustic, working with most architectural styles with the different types available. 
• Brick: A common material found today on homes all across the country, easily recognizable with a completely different appearance from other siding services. The look of brick has remained unchanged for centuries and is unaffected by the weather. Fire retardant and insect resistant, it requires little to no maintenance and never needs painting. 
• Stone Veneer: A popular choice in siding service for the accents both interior and exterior. No longer made from actual stone, this fiber cement stone is lighter weight making installation easier and faster. 
• Metal: An older style but tried and true, aluminum siding has been around for what seems like forever. Available in other types of metal now, including a standing seam type of metal siding that gives it the look of a log cabin. Flame, insect, and moisture resistant in either contemporary, rustic, or traditional styling. Boasts a long lifespan with little maintenance required.
• Fiber Cement: Created from mixing cellulose fiber, Portland cement, sand, and silica, and installed to have the appearance of wood siding. A durable material that is fire, impact, insect, moisture resistant. Choose from a board and batten style, lap siding architectural panels to create a contemporary or traditional style. Available in a variety of colors with a chip and peel resistant finish with low maintenance required. 

What siding lasts the longest?

While vinyl siding will give it a run for the dollar, fiber cement siding services are not only attractive, low maintenance, and has a fairly inexpensive cost, the durability gives it a lifespan of 100 years or more. Next to that is brick siding – with either one, you’ll never need to redo the siding on your home again. 

What is the cheapest way to side your house?

If budgeting is a concern, vinyl siding services offer the same result of making your home look refreshed, but for less money. Vinyl siding has improved over the years and more homeowners are choosing it when their budget is tight. While you can paint it, with advancements in the colorfastness and texture, you probably won’t ever want to, but if you do, remember – you’ll have to repaint on a regular basis. 

Which is better, siding or stucco?

Well, this is a tough one because both siding services offer a home several different pros. Each has a wide variation in profiles and styles with two main applications.

Vinyl siding services come in a non-insulated and an insulated version. Stucco siding is a single, low insulated coat or up to three coats for greater insulation. Cost is always a concern for homeowners, and vinyl siding services win that as the less expensive choice. 

Both stucco and vinyl materials are pretty tough, with vinyl taking wind speeds of 110 mph and Stucco taking wind gusts of 130 mph. For hail resistance, vinyl isn’t as resistant as Stucco. 

When properly installed, both can last up to 50 years or longer with vinyl stretching into 75 year lifespan and Stucco stretching into a 100-year lifespan. For your investment dollar, vinyl will get up 77% ROI, and Stucco averages an ROI up to 70%. 

What are the arguments between siding vs painting a house? 

If your home has wood siding, it will need painting every few years – usually every five to seven years, depending on the quality of paint used and the weather in your area.  If your home has aluminum or vinyl siding, both siding services, you can replace it, a pretty costly investment, or paint it.  

Before painting vinyl siding, consider that you’ll void any warranty on the material, and most come with a lifetime warranty. Those choices of colors are limited as to what will work well on vinyl, it can be difficult to find a color that paints well on vinyl, and replacing any later will be difficult, perhaps requiring repainting of the entire house. 

Before painting aluminum siding, issues to consider are that dents and dings will show more after painting.  There are perforations along the planks that will stand out and aluminum will rust. 

Can siding be repaired?

In many cases, yes, vinyl siding can be repaired.  There are do-it-yourself kits at home improvement stores for dents, small holes, and similar issues. This is an inexpensive way to get your vinyl siding services looking good again. 

For vinyl siding that is buckled, delaminating, split, or warping in larger areas, you may be better off hiring a siding services company to make the repair for you. There may be damage under the siding that will take some extra work you may not be equipped for.